Mazmur 125:1-5
KonteksA song of ascents. 2
125:1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion;
it cannot be upended and will endure forever.
125:2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, 3
so the Lord surrounds his people,
now and forevermore.
125:3 Indeed, 4 the scepter of a wicked king 5 will not settle 6
upon the allotted land of the godly.
Otherwise the godly might
do what is wrong. 7
125:4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
to the morally upright! 8
125:5 As for those who are bent on traveling a sinful path, 9
may the Lord remove them, 10 along with those who behave wickedly! 11
May Israel experience peace! 12
Mazmur 128:1--129:8
KonteksA song of ascents. 14
128:1 How blessed is every one of the Lord’s loyal followers, 15
each one who keeps his commands! 16
128:2 You 17 will eat what you worked so hard to grow. 18
You will be blessed and secure. 19
128:3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine 20
in the inner rooms of your house;
your children 21 will be like olive branches,
as they sit all around your table.
128:4 Yes indeed, the man who fears the Lord
will be blessed in this way. 22
128:5 May the Lord bless you 23 from Zion,
that you might see 24 Jerusalem 25 prosper
all the days of your life,
128:6 and that you might see 26 your grandchildren. 27
May Israel experience peace! 28
A song of ascents. 30
129:1 “Since my youth they have often attacked me,”
let Israel say.
129:2 “Since my youth they have often attacked me,
but they have not defeated me.
129:3 The plowers plowed my back;
they made their furrows long.
129:4 The Lord is just;
he cut the ropes of the wicked.” 31
129:5 May all who hate Zion
be humiliated and turned back!
129:6 May they be like the grass on the rooftops
which withers before one can even pull it up, 32
129:7 which cannot fill the reaper’s hand,
or the lap of the one who gathers the grain!
129:8 Those who pass by will not say, 33
“May you experience the Lord’s blessing!
We pronounce a blessing on you in the name of the Lord.”
[125:1] 1 sn Psalm 125. The psalmist affirms his confidence in the Lord’s protection and justice.
[125:1] 2 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
[125:2] 3 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[125:3] 5 tn Heb “a scepter of wickedness.” The “scepter” symbolizes royal authority; when collocated with “wickedness” the phrase refers to an oppressive foreign conqueror.
[125:3] 7 tn Heb “so that the godly might not stretch out their hands in wrongdoing.” A wicked king who sets a sinful example can have an adverse moral and ethical effect on the people he rules.
[125:4] 8 tn Heb “pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the
[125:5] 9 tn Heb “and the ones making their paths twisted.” A sinful lifestyle is compared to a twisting, winding road.
[125:5] 10 tn Heb “lead them away.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer here (note the prayers directly before and after this). Another option is to translate, “the
[125:5] 11 tn Heb “the workers of wickedness.”
[125:5] 12 tn Heb “peace [be] upon Israel.” The statement is understood as a prayer (see Ps 122:8 for a similar prayer for peace).
[128:1] 13 sn Psalm 128. The psalmist observes that the godly individual has genuine happiness because the Lord rewards such a person with prosperity and numerous children.
[128:1] 14 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
[128:1] 15 tn Heb “every fearer of the
[128:1] 16 tn Heb “the one who walks in his ways.”
[128:2] 17 tn The psalmist addresses the representative God-fearing man, as indicated by the references to “your wife” (v. 3) and “the man” (v. 4), as well as the second masculine singular pronominal and verbal forms in vv. 2-6.
[128:2] 18 tn Heb “the work of your hands, indeed you will eat.”
[128:2] 19 tn Heb “how blessed you [will be] and it will be good for you.”
[128:3] 20 sn The metaphor of the fruitful vine pictures the wife as fertile; she will give her husband numerous children (see the next line).
[128:3] 21 tn One could translate “sons” (see Ps 127:3 and the note on the word “sons” there), but here the term seems to refer more generally to children of both genders.
[128:4] 22 tn Heb “look, indeed thus will the man, the fearer of the
[128:5] 23 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer (note the imperatives that are subordinated to this clause in vv. 5b-6a). Having described the blessings that typically come to the godly, the psalmist concludes by praying that this ideal may become reality for the representative godly man being addressed.
[128:5] 24 tn The imperative with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding jussive.
[128:5] 25 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[128:6] 26 tn The imperative with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the jussive in v. 5a.
[128:6] 27 tn Heb “sons to your sons.”
[128:6] 28 tn Heb “peace [be] upon Israel.” The statement is understood as a prayer (see Ps 125:5).
[129:1] 29 sn Psalm 129. Israel affirms God’s justice and asks him to destroy the enemies of Zion.
[129:1] 30 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
[129:4] 31 tn The background of the metaphor is not entirely clear. Perhaps the “ropes” are those used to harness the ox for plowing (see Job 39:10). Verse 3 pictures the wicked plowing God’s people as if they were a field. But when God “cut the ropes” of their ox, as it were, they could no longer plow. The point of the metaphor seems to be that God took away the enemies’ ability to oppress his people. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 187.
[129:6] 32 tn The Hebrew verb שָׁלַף (shalaf) normally means “to draw [a sword]” or “to pull.” BDB 1025 s.v. suggests the meaning “to shoot up” here, but it is more likely that the verb here means “to pluck; to pull up,” a nuance attested for this word in later Hebrew and Aramaic (see Jastrow 1587 s.v. שָׁלַף).
[129:8] 33 tn The perfect verbal form is used for rhetorical effect; it describes an anticipated development as if it were already reality.
